Tuesday, February 21, 2012

For the last couple of months' Saturdays, Lori and I have been helping to pack paleo collections from the old Utah Museum of Natural History so they can be safely moved to the new Natural History of Museum of Utah digs at the Rio Tinto Center (I may never purge UMNH fully for NHMU, it's an eight-year habit). We've demonstrated our talents for cutting polyethylene foam to support and stabilize fossils placed into clean, bright, new, metal drawers. The fossil-laden drawers are then wrapped in plastic film, loaded into metal cabinets, and later transported via semi truck to the new museum. The old museum's basement is looking nearly empty, and the move should be complete by mid-March. The new prep lab will become officially active after March first and we look forward to getting back to our prep work.

To commemorate our status as "The Cutters", Lori and I present Presbybornispervetus, safely tucked into a new Ethafoam nest.